s | b | a CHICAGO-KENT STUDENT BAR ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER
March 27, 2023
SBA is here to keep you connected; please reach out to sba at any time!
Announcements
Diversity Month:
Public Lecture with Professor Richards: The 2022 Roy C. Palmer Prize on Democracy, Civil Liberties, and the Rule of Law was awarded to Neil Richards, Koch Distinguished Professor in Law; Director, Cordell Institute at Washington University St. Louis School of Law, for his book, Why Privacy Matters (Oxford University Press).
The annual prize is to honor a work of scholarship that explores threats to, or supports of, the liberal democratic constitutional order and to encourage and reward public debate among scholars on current issues affecting the rights of individuals and the responsibilities of governments throughout the world.
Professor Richards will visit Chicago-Kent on Wednesday, April 12th. The public lecture will be at 3 pm in the auditorium. Please use this link to RSVP for the public lecture.
C-K Law Group: Work on real client cases under the supervision of an attorney and get law school credit! C-K Law group is now accepting applications for the Summer 2023 semester. The due date for applications is TBD but is normally a few days before registration. For more information and to submit an application, visit our webpage: https://www.kentlaw.iit.edu/academics/jd-program/practical-skills-training/legal-clinics Applications for the Fall 2023 semester will be available shortly.
Cook County Public Defender Minority Law Student Career Informational Session: The Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender (CCPD) is inviting minority law students to an exclusive in person evening informational session on Friday, March 31, 2023 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Students will have an opportunity to network with members of our executive team and Assistant Public Defenders, while engaging in a lively discussion on the real-life experiences and pathways to becoming an Assistant Public Defender. This informational session will include a keynote address by Sharone R. Mitchell, Jr., The Public Defender of Cook County, and a panel discussion with Assistant Public Defenders with ample time for questions. Light refreshments will be provided. You can register for this event via the Eventbrite link until March 24, 2023.
For questions about the event or to submit a question in advance, please reach out directly to Crystal Brown at crystal.brown, or Executive Assistant Jennifer Green at Jennifer.Green.
Litigation-based Certificate Programs: Students who wish to refine their focus can consider earning a certificate in that area. In addition to many of the other fine programs, applications are now available for:
Litigation and Dispute Resolution (LADR): https://www.kentlaw.iit.edu/academics/jd-program/certificate-programs/litigation-and-alternative-dispute-resolution
Criminal Litigation:
https://www.kentlaw.iit.edu/academics/jd-program/certificate-programs/criminal-litigation
Workplace LADR:
JD Certificate Fair: Chicago-Kent offers a wide variety of certificate programs that allow students to focus on a specific area of law or expertise. We invite you to join us at the JD Certificate fair on Wednesday, March 29 from 3:00 – 4:30 on the first floor to hear more about these programs and ask questions of the faculty supervisors and participating students.
Seminar Research Session: ASP and the Law Library are collaborating to host a research session! This session will be particularly helpful for seminar students, and any student looking to learn more about Bluebook Citations.
Our plan is to first go over the basics of Bluebook citation. We will then move to going over the research process itself, which will include highlighting some secondary resources and databases that students might not be familiar with. Finally, we’re going to go over some Word tricks that will make writing your papers a bit easier (i.e. § symbol shortcut!).
The session will be on March 27 at 1:30 PM in Room 165, and is scheduled for an hour, but it may run shorter.
To RSVP, please fill out this short Google Form. This will allow us to easily send out our slides and a recording of the presentation afterwards, as well as giving us an idea of what kinds of topics everyone is working on! A sign-up sheet will also be available during the session.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at sconder or slayman2 if you have any questions!
JD Actors/Volunteers Needed for LLM Client Interviews (small time commitment, via Zoom, service hour credit!): Professor Contento is looking for volunteers to play a client for LLM students to interview. The Zoom interviews will take place Friday, March 31 beginning at 12:00 noon. The total time commitment for JD students is between 1 and 1.5 hours. She’ll send a short "client fact sheet" for the students to read, and then on March 31, the students will role play a client for approximately 20 minutes. There’s an optional feedback session afterwards, that the JD students can attend if they wish. This is a great way for our JD students to interact with our international students, and a great way for the JDs to have some creative fun. And, JD students will receive a service credit for participating!
Interested volunteers email Professor Contento directly at LContento
Law Firm Externship Opportunities: As announced by Dean Sowle, there are exciting and prestigious law firm externships available for 6 credits this fall via the Semester Law Firm Associate Program (SLFAP). Applications are due to sblaz by March 28, 2023.
Got Accommodations? Share your experience with the process! A group of students is evaluating the current accommodations process to look for ways to make it more clear and efficient. We have created a survey, which will be used for academic purposes in Legal Project Management & Legal Process Improvement (LAW-494-81), and your feedback would be very helpful. We appreciate your participation!
Link: https://forms.gle/KSXHsAnS2ZM3Yk9r6
Chicago Bar Association YLS Transactional Negotiation Competition – Call for teams:
The Chicago Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Section is excited to announce its first annual Transactional Negotiation Competition! Sponsored by the YLS Business Transactional Law Committee, this competition will aim to provide law students with an opportunity to hone their legal skills outside of the classroom and courtroom and learn more about transactional law. For more information and the competition rules, feel free to check out our page here.
Registration is open now for A Teams! Click this link to register your school’s team. Space is limited and first come first serve, so be sure to sign up today!
For schools interested in registering more than one team, B Team registration will go live on February 10, pending availability from the first round of registration.
Date(s): April 1 and 2, 2023
Location: Virtual Platform
Cost: $300/team
Questions? Reach out to yls.
Office of Admissions:
Office of Continuing Legal and Professional Education: Please join us for the following upcoming conference(s). As faculty and staff of Chicago-Kent, you will receive complimentary registration. Enter the discount code: CKCLE1 at checkout.
The Danger Inside the House: Addressing the Threat of Domestic Violent Extremism l March 23, 2023
For the last few years, the threat of violent extremism primarily has originated from domestic actors, rather than from abroad. Although the U.S. government has developed highly successful investigatory and prosecutorial strategies to combat internationally-based violent extremism, the domestic threat poses additional challenges because of the constitutional protections afforded to U.S. citizens. This all-day, in-person, seminar explores the evolving domestic violent extremism (DVE) threat and identifies ways in which federal, state, and local governments can work with non-government organizations and the private sector to mitigate the threat. Register Today!
44th Annual Kenneth M. Piper Lecture l March 28, 2023
Join us to hear Charlotte Garden, Julius E. Davis Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School, deliver this year’s Kenneth M. Piper Lecture. In this lecture, Professor Garden will address what strikes and other collective action might look like in a fissured or virtual workplace. As to both fissured and virtual workplaces, Professor Garden will consider what an “equal and opposite” reaction might look like – for example, a strike of an employer that mainly transacts business online might call for the deployment of a digital picket-line. Professor Garden will also discuss how the law might impede or support new forms of collection action that result from these changing business practices. This free lecture will be held in the Chicago-Kent College of Law Ogilvie Auditorium and is in-person only and will not be live-streamed.
Resources
Mental Health Tip of the Week: Focus on the Positive
In law school, it’s easy to focus on what’s not going well rather than what is going well. An optimistic attitude can be a helpful tool in reducing stress and having better mental health. A great way to develop an optimistic mindset is to practice gratitude. You can do this by:
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using a journal to daily record a few positive things that happened that day
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At the end of each day think about one thing you accomplished that day instead of focusing on what you didn’t accomplish
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Make a list of the things you’re thankful fo
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Send a letter or text thanking someone in you life for all they have done for you
Source: https://www.verywellmind.com/the-benefits-of-optimism-3144811
Quiet Study in Library: As our community returns to in-person study and instruction at the Conviser Law Center, the Law Library, in conjunction with the Student Bar Association, wants to remind students that the Law Library is a quiet study space. Talking is discouraged in open seating areas where, if necessary, conversations should be brief and very quiet. For group study and discussion, the Law Library offers ten study rooms students can reserve at the Service Desk on the 9th floor.
Exit Escort Service: In the evening hours, a Public Safety officer is available to provide a walking escort for those with concerns about their personal safety. This service applies to any location within a two block radius of the Conviser Law Center, including Union Station and many adjacent parking locations. Please see the officer(s) on duty at the front desk, or call the Public Safety number, 312-906-5030. Please also see the below survey!
Student Organizations
Business Law Night: Hosted by CLS, BIRA and APALSA
Please join our panel discussion with Chicago corporate attorneys on Wednesday, March 29 at 6:30PM in Room 704 ! This will be followed by an opportunity to network, gain a mentor, and learn something new! Food and refreshments provided while they last. Please RSVP here.
Chicago-Kent Law Review: Publication Party & Panel – April 25th! Join Chicago-Kent Law Review for a luncheon celebrating our student publishers. If you’re interested in Law Review, this is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the publication process and the work you’ll do as a junior associate! Our student publishers have researched and written about various salient legal issues. They are excited to share their work with the CK Community! The event is from 12 pm – 1 pm in Morris Hall. Lunch will be provided for those who RSVP here by April 18th, 2023.
Christian Legal Society: Come join Christian Legal Society for lunch on March 28th at noon in room 660! Attorney Bruce Strom from Administer Justice will be speaking about being a Christian and an Attorney, as well as the kind of public interest work Administer Justice does. Check out Administer Justice’s website for more information about this great organization: https://www.administerjustice.org/
Community Education Presentation: Domestic Violence & Legal Protections for Survivors
Join Chicago-Kent’s Public Interest Center, the Child and Family Law Society, and Women in Law, on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, at 3:00 PM in Room 520 for a Community Education Presentation covering:
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an explanation of the nature and dynamics of domestic violence (“DV”);
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focusing on the counter-intuitive or less-known aspects of DV, including the substantial barriers to safely leaving an abusive intimate partner;
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a discussion of the kinds of services and resources that DV service organizations provide, including risk assessment and safety planning;
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a description and explanation of the key laws in Illinois that DV survivors can use to address the various harms they have suffered and help them overcome the barriers to becoming safe—including the many forms of protection under an Illinois Order of Protection, housing protections under the Safe Homes Act and Eviction Act, employment protections under VESSA, the possibility of compensation for certain damages under the Crime Victims Compensation Act, and finally the protections in divorce and parentage cases relating to the allocation of parenting time and decision making, and restrictions on parenting time, to protect DV survivors and their children from further abuse.
A 2L student, Sylvie Durlacher, will give the Presentation. Sylvie is enrolled in Domestic Violence Law, Policy, & Community Engagement at UIC Law. She will be giving this presentation on Domestic Violence and legal protections for survivors in Illinois as her culminating project for the course. RSVP here!
ELS Earth Day Fundraiser: Please save the date for the ELS Earth Day Fundraiser, April 21. Please email els for ticket and donation information.
ELS Trivia Night: Please save the date for the ELS Trivia Night, April 5 from 7-9PM at Great Central Brewing Co. The event is sponsored by Kaplan, and all proceeds will go towards the ELS Scholarship fund. To RSVP please email els to secure your $10 ticket and spot. The ticket will get you two free drinks and a small donation towards the ELS Scholarship fund. Looking forward to seeing you there!
International Law Student Association (ILSA):
LAMBDAS: LAMBDAS is hosting Chicago-Kent’s first Drag Show on Friday, March 31st in the Chicago-Kent Auditorium. All proceeds will be donated to TransLegal. Happy hour starts at 6PM and performance starts at 7PM. Bring cash to tip the queens!
My Body My Data: Privacy in a Post-Dobbs Landscape: Please join us on Thursday, March 30th at 5:30 pm for a panel discussion exploring how the recent Dobbs decision may affect body and data privacy in areas across health services, employment, and technology. A networking event with passed hors d’oeuvres and drinks will follow!
Registration: through the QR code on the flyer or at this link.
Parents and Caregivers of Chicago-Kent (PACCK): Every 4th Monday, PACCK will be hosting a student lunch support hour from 12-2pm in the game room on the fifth floor. Food will be served. All are welcome; however, we highly encourage the attendance of parents and caregivers. Come eat and chat with parents and caregivers as we uplift and support one another. Please know this is meant to be a safe space where you are supported. Spread the word. PACCK specializes in supporting law students who have an extra responsibility of providing care to others. We’d love to see you there.
South Asian Law Student Association (SALSA): SALAAM NAMASTE! Whether you are South Asian or simply a fan of South Asian culture (and food!), S.A.L.S.A. is the group for you! Join us for philanthropy, socials, and networking events. Email: salsa.
WIL, HLLSA, and First Gen:
Upcoming Events
MARCH 27: SALSA Hindi + Urdu Practice Session
MARCH 27: Seminar Research Session
MARCH 27: “Her Story” Featuring Chicago-Kent Alumnae
MARCH 28: ILSA’s Coffee Corner
MARCH 28: Christian Legal Society Lunch w/ Attorney Bruce Strom from Administer Justice
MARCH 28: Law Firm Externship Applications Due
MARCH 29: Business Law Night
MARCH 29: JD Certificate Fair
MARCH 29: Community Education Presentation: Domestic Violence & Legal Protections for Survivors
MARCH 30: My Body My Data: Privacy in a Post-Dobbs Landscape
MARCH 31: LAMBDAS Drag Show
MARCH 31: Cook County Public Defender Minority Law Student Career Informational Session
APRIL 5: ELS Trivia Night
More events may be found on the SBA calendar. Please make sure you are accessing via your Kent email address.
Birthdays & Special Days – March:
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3/2 |
Junyi Xie, 1L |
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3/10 |
Sumayya Hameed, 1L |
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3/11 |
Andrea Teran, 2L |
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3/18 |
Nicole Lopatinsky, 2L |
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3/24 |
Mel Williams, 1L |
*if you wish to share your special date with the student body, clickhere